👋 Hi Reader,

My business runs on Google Workspace. I assume most of you running a newsletter reading this article are.

I got a notification this week that Gmail is entering the Gemini era. Amongst the other Gemini-driven updates, what struck me is that Google is making email summaries aggregate at the inbox level in a new tab called ‘AI Inbox’.

What do you mean?

Gmail has been showing email-level summaries for a while now on Workspace inboxes. This means that when you have a long thread of emails going back and forth in a group, Gemini can summarize the list of action items across the thread, so you are able to retain context.

AI Inbox moves the capture-the-conversational-gist concept across all emails in your inbox into a new tab. This means all emails arriving on a particular day are rolled up into an AI-assisted summary, so you pay attention to what’s important.

What does this mean for my newsletter?

Well, for starters, people may not open or read your newsletter email coming every week.

They would get the gist of what the newsletter was all about, along with whatever bill notifications or credit card charges hit you that day.

Holy smokes, how do I measure newsletter performance now?

You are not alone.

I admire Mitch Larson’s work at Sparkloop, and he spelled out what everyone in the newsletter space is thinking quietly about in his LinkedIn thread.

​
I agree with his point of view. Monetization is going to be a big question, but that’s a question which might come down the road.

For a new newsletter operator, here’s the big question that begs asking:

If an AI is going to summarize the content on my email, what could I provide as a hint, that the reader still comes to the original email and ends up reading it?

And that might be the problem worth solving for.

To write newsletter issues so good, that the reader feels they are missing out on a great deal of insight, that a summarized email doesn’t suffice.

Here’s when I think a quote from the award-winning 2015 movie on the Boston Globe ‘Spotlight’ hits home. Marty Baron says this line in his first meeting with Robby Robinson:

What I am more focused on right now is finding a way to make this paper essential to its readers.

I would wager that this quote applies well in 2026 for writing newsletters too.

Make the newsletter an essential habit. AI summaries or not, your reader will find the time and inclination to read it - top to bottom.

Need a sounding board in understanding what that looks like for your newsletter? I would love to talk to you.

Let me know by hitting ‘Reply’ on this email, or send a note to marketing@letterstack.co.

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